Hat and cold
by KicksAndKisses
Summary: It was late December when Ash and his friends arrived at Snowpoint City. Nothing bad could happen, especially Dawn who just encountered Paul in store. That's where things gets complicated.


_**HAT AND COLD**_

Snowpoint City, the entire city was decorated in the trappings of the season. All the blinking and colorful series of light made the city itself very admirable. Obviously, it was late December.

Ash and his Sinnoh companions Brock, Dawn and Pikachu arrived in the said city at 8:30 p.m. The group paused to witness the beauty of the city. "Thank goodness, we weren't caught in a blizzard on our way here." Ash said with a relief. Nobody answered him.

"Helllloooo……Guys? Am I invi-" He was cut off when Dawn pulled him, tumbling Pikachu from his shoulders to the ground. Of course, the mouse pokémon squeaked in pain. Ash was positioned to see what Dawn has been staring. She sure has that big grin.

"A store?" He questioned. "No silly, I mean….it is a store….but what's inside is what I wanted." She answered when she saw Ash picked up the poor yellow rat from the snowy ground.

"Okay…" He comprehended slowly positioning Pikachu back to his shoulders. "But where is Brock?" Ash inquired in realization to his quick disappearance. Three heads circled around to look for their breeder.

When they already found him after a few walk, he was already knocked out cold with Croagunk dragging him. Ash then carried Brock by his arms.

"I guess the both of us can tell what happened." The two friends synchronized then gave each other a laugh as they continued to walk.

"Ah….Ash?" The bluenette questioned. "What is it?" The group paused. "Can I go to that store while you rent our room in the center. I just wanted to see something. Can I?" She pleaded. "O-" He was cut off again by Dawn's snowy dust behind her. "-kay…" Ash continued. Pikachu the sweat dropped.

Dawn stepped in and shook the snowflakes off of her. "There it is!" She skipped happily to the aisle she was pointing. While skipping, she bumped to a person she hoped she never had.

"Eiikk…" Dawn shrieked a bit when her bottom hit the floor. "You better watch where you're going Clumsy." Dawn opened her eyes and looked up who it was.

"Paul?" Dawn blinked. "Yeah it's me." Paul answered lifelessly. "What are you doing here?" Dawn inquired standing up. "Does it really matter to you Troublesome?" Paul questioned back. With that, Dawn turned to dynamite that ran out of fuse.

"No!!!" Dawn shouted. A shout that got everyone in the store looking at them. "Everything about you is dull! You're as good as dead! And for your information, I was born with a name and it's DAWN!" She continued, steam coming out from her ears and nose. Even Paul could her breath heavily from a safe distance of 1.5 meters away.

Paul's face didn't twitch, it was still the same. "You know what? You're not just clumsy and troublesome, you're also annoyingly loud." Paul retorted.

At that moment, Dawn could be the most dangerous thing, if she had something that would hurt like a bat, chainsaw or even a fork. Her fingers dug deep into her palms in extreme anger.

"You…JERK!!!!!" She shouted, launching her fist with her outmost power, only to be stopped by the security. The security was dragging a wild Gyarados I mean Dawn but that was the way how she acted. Paul just stood there and watched her.

The securities were having a hard time taking a hold of her that they accidentally tore her white hat. Finally, Dawn was already out of the store. Her head was still steaming. She sat down on a nearby bench, waiting for her temper to cool down.

"He's…Such…A…Jerk…" She stuttered. "Why would he call me names? Is my name that hard to remember? My name is also just syllabicated only once, Clumsy is two while Troublesome is three." She kept asking herself.

She tried to relocate her hat that was misplaced on her head, the she felt something different. She took it off and looked it for herself.

Her lower jaw dropped and her eyes became wide open when she saw that her hat, her favorite hat was ruined.

She wasn't able to contain all the emotions surrounding her, anger, sorrow and pain that she didn't even noticed that tears were already rolling down her cheeks, from an enraged Gyarados to a toy-stolen Togepi. She sat there and cried, for that was all she can do. A few minutes later, she stood up and went to the Pokémon Center to rest.

Then Paul came out of the store. "Stupid people, can't they just mind their own business. Gossip here, gossip there they're making me sick." Paul grunted. He breathe deeply and sat down on the bench were Dawn saw sitting. At least the outside was quiet.

The sparkle of the city lights seems to lighten up Paul's mood. He admitted that the city was gorgeous, especially that it was night time. He can't help thinking about what just happened.

Then randomly, he felt something soft beside his hands. "Hey, isn't this her hat? Is she abandoning this already?" He asked himself picking the object up. A thought sunk to his brain. He placed it inside his bag and raced back to the store.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

Dawn arrived at the center. She glanced at her pokétch and read 10:45 p.m. When she entered the room. Brock, Ash and Pikachu was already asleep on their respective beds. She didn't ate her half of the food, she has lost her appetite. Instead, she grabbed a towel and shot a smile to her sleeping friends before heading to the bathroom for a warm bath. When she was done, she change to her pajamas and turned off the lights before going to bed.

A few hours later, she kept on moving, she couldn't sleep and decided to take a walk outside. It was almost midnight. She didn't even change, she was still in her pajamas when she went outside.

She was already few feet away from the center. Though the city was quiet all the light made the talking. She feels different without her hat. She could feel the snowflakes landing on her hair. Then a few walks later, she can already see clearly the bench where she was sitting. She arrived there and sat down. She looked up to face the falling snow on her bare face. Her hat that was placed here was gone and she never wondered why.

Then she felt a blanket covering her. She was a bit startled by the sudden actions. Then that person sat beside her. "Are you here to call me names again?" Dawn asked still looking at the sky.

"Does it really matter to you-" He was cut off. "Troublesome?" Dawn continued. Then she stood up giving back to Paul the blanket. But he was stopped when Paul grabbed her hand and pulled her to him, touching each other's forehead.

They could feel each other's icy breathe from each pant of air they breathe. "If you don't want the blanket to heat you up just……put this on instead." Paul placed something on Dawn's head.

"Is…this…my…hat…?" Dawn asked in awe. "But how did y-" Now she was cut off by Paul's fingers clipping his mouth. "Just take it and go to sleep now." That was all he said. Then he walked away with his blanket.

Dawn stood there dumbfounded, all she did was gazed at him until his silhouette disappeared by the snow. "I can't believe it, he bought me a new one." She whispered. When she took it off, she found a letter attached to it. She unfolded it and read.

"_Honestly, you really are clumsy and troublesome. So the next time we meet, be less annoying. I bought you another hat because I think you look more annoying without it, just think of it as my Christmas gift to you or whatever you want to call it."_

"What exactly is he trying to say?" Dawn asked herself. "Whatever it is, at least he showed signs of warmness inside him." She smiled as she put on her newly bought hat. She might have not noticed but her cheeks were flashing shades of red.

She slapped herself, ignoring the slight stinging."Come on Dawn, you're losing yourself. You're not falling for a bastard like him, right" She talked to herself. But she admit it, it was pretty romantic of Paul. She can't help blushing whenever she thinks about it.

She then raced back to the center. She paused when a thought came to her head. "If he bought me another one, where was my old one?" She asked herself. She just dropped the subject and continued to run towards the center.

What she didn't know was that Paul has her old hat, no one knows why, only himself.


End file.
